The ARHS Vikettes were busy practicing Wednesday night for their upcoming weekend tournament. The basketball team will go head-to-head against Charlottetown, Miramichi, Tantramar, North Nova and Dartmouth.

Kicker: Basketball

AMHERST – The Amherst Regional High School Vikettes are busy practicing for their upcoming tournament this weekend.

The basketball team invited Tantramar, Charlottetown, Miramichi, North Nova and Dartmouth for a weekend of basketball fun.

“It’s an annual invitational tournament,” said Vikettes’ head coach Gillian Ellis. “We run it around this time every year to get out and have the teams get some early games in.”

Ellis said they invite some of the same teams every year. It never hurts to have the players working on their playing skills early, she added.

“We’ll know what we’ll have to work on for the rest of the season,” she said.

By participating against the other teams, Ellis said it gives her team and idea of where they are in their game.

Ellis said she hopes to see lots of support from the team’s fans.

“We hope that the fans come out and support it,” said Ellis. “We’re the defending division two champions and a lot of the same girls are back and we hope to do it again this year.”

Natasha Gouchie, one of the Grade 12 players on the team, said she’s hoping her team wins the tournament.

“I think we’ll do well,” she said. “They are teams we can definitely compete with.”

Fellow player, Grade 12 student Emily Pipes, said she too is expecting great things from the weekend tournament.

“We just played some of the best teams in New Brunswick this past weekend,” she said. “Now, we’re playing some of the better teams in this area. The games are going to be pretty good, I think. I do want to win, but it’s not all about that. You have to have fun.”

The first game of the tournament starts at 2 p.m. today at the high school. The Vikettes will play the first game of the tournament against the Tantramar Titans.

The ARHS Vikettes were busy practicing Wednesday night for their upcoming weekend tournament. The basketball team will go head-to-head against Charlottetown, Miramichi, Tantramar, North Nova and Dartmouth.